FAIR!

My friend and supervisor just won an award which is given to the best employee in our company, once a year. As part of award he gets a trip to California. He should have been nominated and won years ago, but that's neither here nor there because he just won and there IS justice in this world. I couldn't be happier for him.

In case you couldn't tell from my posts on Foosball, I'm a sucker for the game. A colleague and I had decided a week back that we would take part in the Foosball Championships. What better way to celebrate our love for the game than making sporting fools of ourselves in front of each other and a bunch of other co-workers? Good times, to be sure.

UNFAIR!
We made our way to the table where we met our competition. The game room was all crowded and we quickly grabbed our bars and readied ourselves. My co-worker was decidedly the best striker between the both of us. Although she continues to deny that she has any skills. The liar. Unfortunately yours truly was too nervous to even hit more than a shot. The highlight of the game was at the end of the game when we realized we had lost and I almost scared my competition with a punch to the face - I never fail to put on a show. The fact that he was tall and slim and twinkishly handsome was probably why I didn’t hurt him. Fortunately I wasn’t drunk to do anything that bordered on illegal or harassing.

Oh, and before I forget, one of my colleagues came to work today swimming in perfume… he must have a pool of it. Either that or Hugo Boss died in his house last night. Now, I like a good smelling man just as much as the next girl but phu-leeeeeez - there's a need for some moderation and carefulness. It smells like the perfume counter at Shopper’s Stop here.

I had the opportunity to do a little music surfing lately. What did I come up with? Here's the discovery:

Artist: Louise Hart
Track: Take Me Out
Album: Velvet

It’s rare that I find an album which impresses me right off the bat. Even rarer is the track, I'll listen to multiple times immediately after acquiring. But this is one of 'em. Louise Hart combines alt-country, roots, folk and rock elements into a subdued yet powerful album. And the strengths lie not only in her music but her lyrics. Her songs are thoughtful, well-written and revolve around things with which we can all identify. If nothing else, this track is proof that not everyone feels the need to be a pop star or a nu-metal screamer. Hart puts songwriting and instrumentation front and center and the results are truly impressive.

At long last we come to the conclusion of the All-Female artist month. If you’re looking to read/listen more entries like this you can check out any of the previous individual posts. This concludes the set. Enjoy the music. As I’ve said before these are tracks by really unpopular female vocalists. They’re not off any blockbuster album and they’re not available in big music stores. That being said they’re definitely on the top of the pile in terms of audio quality. I’ve done all I could to bring you only that which is worthy of your precious time. You are welcome. Have a fabulous weekend and see ya on Monday.

On my list of much loved things to do to pass the time, is something I’ve come to love and perfect with time. It can be done at any place, at no cost and it’s a pretty much surefire way to see something or someone entertaining. One of the people I love to do this with is Ash, she really gets into it because we used to meet a fair bit and often at joints where we get to see loads of people and end up making fun of them. For example, the group of ‘Jack Sparrow’s absolutely wearable fashion apparel’ blokes or the wannabe cheerleaders who were unfortunately coming off as loud and noisy than excited! In a situation like this you only get to hear a few words of the conversation and you fill in the unheard bits yourself, which leads to some bizarre and giggle-filled conversations. While most people sitting next to you are left wondering exactly why the two of us have been attacked with out of control laughter.

The point of watching people is that you can build up the most far-fetched picture about them and there’s a part of you that knows that it could actually be spot on. It’s also the chance to brazenly pass judgment on other people’s dressing styles, boyfriends and lifestyle. I’m always surprised by the quantity of people who seem to not realize the fact that there are others who watch them. I’ve seen so many people do things when they think nobody can see them. But that’s the thing; there is always somebody who’s watching, and yes, that somebody is usually always me!

I had this grand idea exactly one year ago to make a musical diary of my life. I got down to it right after my friend, Runa told me it was a great idea to help people discover the music I listen to. And I am still working on it almost a year later. It’s a pretty massive task to capture your life and shave it down to a song. But it will be a splendid piece of work when it is finished. Ok, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration.

But I need to stop writing.

And I do need to give you some music to satisfy the lonely people out there.
Franz Ferdinand is one of those bands that you either fell in love with five years ago with the first strains of the dance-punk title track “Take me out,” or you’ve simply ignored them since then. If you didn’t dig their sound right off the bat then their album 'You Could Have It So Much Better' (2005), probably didn’t do much for you either. Essentially it was enough to prove to the world that they were still around, but not really anything new.
That all changed earlier this year with the release of their third full length album ‘Tonight: Franz Ferdinand’. Their signature sound is still intact. But they’ve thrown in a nice blend of curve balls and change ups to prove once and for all that Franz Ferdinand really does rule the kingdom of “the” bands. The recently released single, “No you girls never know” is what I’m playing for you folks today. At the very end of it when your mind tells you “ok, one more time,” you will wholeheartedly agree as you play it again, and again, and again.

Hoping the wait for the next great band or album will end soon. I had waited so long for Coldplay’s album to be released and now that I’ve listened to it nearly a thousand times over I’m waiting for something new to shake the ground beneath my feet. Until then I’ll have to play it cool for some time but if we’re in for another round of boozy lyrics and rock tunes faltering really close to standard… I think I might pass out.

A couple of weeks ago I had set out on what I thought would be a half an hour trip to the music store to buy The Unseen Guest and Lifehouse’s albums. It’s been long overdue so my patience levels were verging on psychotic. I went to both Planet M and Music World. Nothing. Where else was there to go to buy an album by a lesser-known band? What about Lifehouse? I thought they were big? That was the end of the road for me. After an afternoon of chasing my tail I figured shopping a bit would cheer me up. I think I’m on a complain trip, so bear with me. I’ll get over it in a day or two.

I can’t wait to see the Dark Knight. When this baby hits theatres, you better believe I’m there. I’m also plotting to write about Kings of Leon sometime soon. In addition, I’m still in search of good new music. From there, let’s see where my exploration takes me.

People think I’m obsessed with myself. Thinking about it, if I had a chance I’d probably marry me. I’m just the kind of person that loves me a little bit more than others do themselves. And why not? I’ve worked hard to be the person I am at present. I like me- messy, a bit rude at times and crazy enough to put myself through crap that isn’t worth the self-infliction but the best part of it all is that my world has everything to do with music.

While I can’t really speak for the rest of the album – ‘Take me out’ by Franz Ferdinand is a fun and punchy track that is fairly relentless in its spunk. The seamless switch from verse to chorus makes you want to say –genius! Press play below. For an extra bizarre kick, watch the video here and say goodbye to your crappy mood. Have a great weekend y’all!